


the outsider perspective

by izadreamer



Series: Internal Tangles [8]
Category: Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Study, During Canon, Extended Scene, Gen, Introspection, Past Relationship(s), Season/Series 02, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, adira is better than you and knows it, adira's just here to eat cake and kick butt, and she's all outta cake, god i love her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 12:48:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15049406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izadreamer/pseuds/izadreamer
Summary: Adira crashes a wedding, eats good cake, watches a downright marvelous brawl, and reflects. Twenty-five years is a long time to wait for change.





	the outsider perspective

**Author's Note:**

> So. How about that season two premiere?? I, for one, am still screaming. So many good things! Adira is by far my favorite though. I love Adira. She’s just…. Wow. _Wow._
> 
> Anyways, I made the mistake of trying to write a character study for a character we have only just met. I uh…. Did my best. (As much as I love Adira, alas, I don’t think she loves me.)
> 
>  **Warning:** DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FIRST SEASON 2 EP. Like, major spoilers. I am not kidding.

She’s never been to a wedding before.

Of course, Adira considers, carefully licking some cake off her fork— _delectable,_ really, for a man with no morals the Baron sure has good taste—she’s probably never been to a wedding for a reason. That reason being her personality. People don’t tend to like her much; Adira considers this reasonable, as she doesn’t like people all that much either. Too messy, too complicated, too much… stuff.

Quirin was a good example of that. A good friend, too, but he’d always gotten… caught, really. Tied up in knots over the littlest thing. He’d been so fun to mess with, back in the day. Sometimes, if Adira lets herself dwell on things, she almost misses it.

Oh well. The past is past, and the present has some darn good cake. This is no time to be moody.

Adira steals another slice from the buffet table, slipping off into the shadows, back behind her column. The princess, bless her little heart, is giving a pretty heartwarming speech to her maybe-fiancé. Brave, that, confessing your love to a party full of hostile strangers. And oh, look! She’s going to cause trouble!

Ah, Adira realizes, as the princess reaches for the giant jutting spires of stone. She is planning on causing a scene… by activating the black rocks. Hmm.

“Good plan, but no dice,” Adira mutters, taking another forkful of cake, humming thoughtfully under her breath. Is this where she should step in? Probably, but Adira finds herself curious. It would be too _easy_ if she came in now. She’s already proved herself against the princess and her guard, so there’s no benefit in showing off her prowess here. Plus, Adira’s not really in a fighting mood right now.

…Besides. She admits to being a little curious. Who, exactly, is the princess? The Sundrop, certainly; it’s practically written all over her, from her golden hair to the light in her eyes. But beyond that, beyond the Sundrop—who is this Rapunzel, Princess of Corona? In love, brave, stubborn. But what else?

Resourceful, Adira decides, watching as the girl fights regardless of her disadvantage. Frying pan against swords, a daring move. And the horse as backup? Effective _and_ hilarious. Adira stifles her laugh into another bite of cake and ducks out of the way of a flying thug. For a girl who looked like a child playing dress-up next to Adira’s hard-won skill, the guard girl packs a pretty mean punch. Adira likes her already.

Maybe here. Maybe this is where Adira should step in. It certainly looks like fun—less a fight and more a brawl, and Adira’s always been a fan of those. So much chaos, so much mess, so… _lively_. Quirin would have had a heart attack.

Her mood sours at the thought, and Adira scowls down at her half-eaten slice of cake. It’s this damn group, she concludes, stepping decisively over another prone body to head to a new column. The princess’s group and their very loud and very vocal declarations of togetherness and friendship and whatnot. That’s what is bringing all of this moodiness to the surface.

Adira is… uncertain of how to interact with them. She knows how to have _friends,_ of course. She’s befriended even stick-in-the-mud Quirin, which is pretty good evidence that Adira can befriend _anyone._ But that was a long time ago. And in hindsight, she hasn’t talked to Quirin in… years, now. Decades. Does it even still count, their friendship, if she hasn’t seen him in almost a lifetime?

And more than that, in the decades since Adira left the dark kingdom, she has admittedly spent most of that time on her own. She’s made some friends, in a few places, and on good years she even goes to see them again. But mostly… mostly, Adira has been on her own. She’s out of practice with playing nice with others. She has never actually _needed_ people to like her before. Mostly she’d just sat back and let the chips fall where they may. Except in this case…

King Edmund had said to keep the kingdom hidden. But that was years ago, before the flower died and a girl took its place. And now that girl—that princess—that drop of golden sun—she is coming for the dark kingdom, even if she doesn’t quite know it yet. Isn’t it Adira’s job to guide her there? To help her? To befriend her, and act as her ally?

No one else will. King Edmund—ah, he’d be no help. Adira hasn’t seen him in a long time, and at this point, she’s uncertain if he’ll ever come out of hiding, even for the Sundrop girl. And Quirin, well. He’s not here. Only Adira, just her, and that means she can’t afford to mess this up. She’s played around a little too much, gotten too used to making fun.

Adira knows who she is. Eccentric, odd, a good fighter, a loyal warrior. Fun, maybe a bit bloodthirsty, and _not_ at all weird, thank you very much. But she has always known this. She has always known herself. It is when she must prove herself to others that Adira runs into difficulties.

Once, she had to prove herself to a king. Now Adira must prove herself to a princess.

She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a tiny bit nervous about the whole thing. Nevertheless, Adira has done this before—played this role and done her part, even if the last time was decades ago. She can do it again. So what if Adira throws people off, if she’s unconventional, if she comes only when she’s needed? She’s an ally, and at this point, the princess could use all the allies she can get. Adira has got this in the bag.

She brushes her doubts away like how one would brush dust off their shoulder, shaking those moody thoughts back into the recesses of her mind where they belong. If she dwells too much, she’ll miss the whole fight, and where would be the fun in that?

Adira takes one last bite of cake and puts down her fork with a sigh. Man, the pastry’s so good it’s almost a shame to leave it behind. Maybe she can get another slice later.

For now, Adira has a job to do. She puts down her plate, licking the frosting off her lips, and grins quietly to herself. Quirin would have a fit if he could see this now. A crashed wedding, goons and chaos, and the Sundrop girl in the middle of it all.

Adira has to do her job, but no one ever said she couldn’t have fun along the way.

She steps out the shadows with a laugh in her voice and a smile on her face, her hand already reaching for her sword.

**Author's Note:**

> [If you wanna rec this fic, you can reblog it here!!](http://izaswritings.tumblr.com/post/175245271017/title-the-outsider-perspective-synopsis-adira) Also, if you have any questions or just want to talk, [my tumblr](http://izaswritings.tumblr.com) is always open!!
> 
> Any thoughts?


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